Pirates OF Andrew McCutchen homers in Friday's win

(8/1/15) Pirates outfielder Andrew McCutchen smacked his 15th home run of the season during Friday's 5-4 win over the Reds.

The solo shot was his only hit in four at-bats during the game. Over his last nine games, McCutchen is hitting .324 with three home runs and nine RBI.

Pirates CF Andrew McCutchen goes yard on Wednesday

by Jason Lempert | Staff Writer

(7/29/15) Pirates center fielder Andrew McCutchen belted a game-tying two-run home run in the fifth inning of Wednesday's 10-4 win over the Twins. McCutchen finished the game 2 for 4 with three RBI, including his 14th longball of the season.

The former National League MVP has homered twice in his last six games for the Pirates.

Pirates CF Andrew McCutchen homers in win over Washington

by Marty Gitlin | CBSSports.com

(7/23/15) On May 23, Pirates center fielder Andrew McCutchen had a multi-hit game with a homer. He did the same on June 23.

So perhaps it was meant to be that on Thursday - July 23 - he again achieved that feat. McCutchen, who had not blasted off as part of a multi-hit game over the past month, singled and scored in the first inning and turned a 4-1 lead into a 6-1 lead with a two-run tater in the seventh.

His big game ended a 4-for-24 mini-slump and sweetened his slash line on the year to .289/.389/.496.

04/11/2015 21:49Brewers beat Pirates 6-0 for first win of season
MILWAUKEE (AP) Jimmy Nelson struck out a career-high nine in seven innings, Jean Segura hit a two-run homer and the Milwaukee Brewers became the last team in the majors to win this season by beating the Pittsburgh Pirates 6-0 on Saturday.

2014 summary:Andrew McCutchen may not have been able to repeat as NL MVP in 2014, but he actually had a better season overall, hitting four more home runs than in 2013 and leading the majors with a .410 on-base percentage. He's the only player in baseball to hit over .300 with an OPS over .900 each of the last three seasons -- and he's a base-stealer to boot.

Playing time status: McCutchen had a curious stretch late in the year when pitchers kept hitting him in the ribs, with varying degrees of intention. But he missed only a two-week stretch in August because of a fracture in that area and was as good as ever after he returned for the Pirates, batting .324 with eight homers in 136 at-bats. Otherwise, he's been as healthy as it gets, playing 150-plus games in four straight seasons prior to last year.

2015 outlook: Because of Mike Trout's otherworldly ability, McCutchen probably doesn't get the admiration he should in Fantasy. But he's as consistently studly as any player, filling out all five categories for Rotisserie owners, and is a candidate to go No. 2 overall with questions surfacing about Miguel Cabrera's durability.
(Updated 12/16/14)